THE ONES WHO GOT AWAY: CHIBOK GIRLS SPEAK OUT. Lami: It was Monday night. We had exams the following day. Then we started to hear shootings in the town. So we went out. We phoned our parents to tell them what was happening in the town. They told us to run away when we got the chance. We told them that the town was already surrounded so there was no way we could run. Maria: Lami woke me up saying: Maria didnt you hear whats happening? Havent you heard sounds of shooting from the town? I said we should climb the wall and run away. She said: No. No-one has run away. We should gather in one place and wait to see whats going to happen. Other girls said nothing would happen to us. Were girls. They dont do anything to girls. We should wait and see what God would do. Lami: We were at the school when suddenly three Boko Haram members entered. They said: If any of you attempt to leave well kill all of you. When we went out they were everywhere. They gathered us where we have our school assembly. As we were there they kept burning the school. They burnt everything. Hajara: They asked us to get out of the gate, saying that when we were out they would let us go back to our homes. They said whoever did not have a headscarf or shoes should go and get them. They then asked us to climb on to a lorry, on top of the food loaded in it. The lorry was so high that we couldnt easily climb on. Maria: They said to us: Youre only coming to school for prostitution. Boko (Western education) is haram (forbidden) so what are you doing in school? We kept quiet. I think there could have been about 100 Boko Haram members - they were all over the school. They outnumbered us. They took us away in their vehicles. We were sitting on oil drums in the vehicle. Our vehicle was really overloaded. We were saying to one another that we should throw away our shoes and scarves so that if our parents came they would know the road we had taken. Hajara: The vehicle became full before I could get on. There were about 100 of us walking. We stopped at one town and people brought us water. I saw one of those who brought us water changed his clothes and joined the Boko Haram men. They then put us in other vehicles. They put the rest in the boots of cars. Some of the Boko Haram members were so small that if I were to grab their necks I could break them. Some couldnt even carry their guns properly. Maria: We were wondering where we were being taken to. When we entered the vehicle, Lami said to me: Shouldnt we jump out of the vehicle here so that we may possibly escape? There are no other vehicles close by. Hajara: I thought, its preferable to have these people shoot me as I run than have them humiliate me. They kept saying to us: Make sure you put on your scarves. Make sure you put on your scarves. Well shoot any girl we see without a scarf. And any girl who jumps out will die. I was about to jump out when one girl held me back and said theyd shoot me if I did. Whats the difference, I said. Is it not to the same death were going? They should shoot me here and let my corpse be collected. I was crying and praying until we reached the camp Lami: There was a lot of dust on the road, they couldnt see us. When we jumped out, we started to run. We were running without shoes. We found other people. We started to run away from them thinking they were Boko Haram. But they too had run from the town. Hajara: Boko Haram gathered us in a forest around noon. Some of the girls were tired and were lying down. But I couldnt lie down. The spirit of God was asking me to go. It was telling me: Get up and go. Get up and go. So I went. Another girl followed me. When we were going I saw some of them [Boko Haram members] performing ablutions. We stooped as if we were trying to pull out thorns from our shoes, as if we were just going to wee. Wed walk a little then bend down for a little while as if we were looking for something wed lost. After walking for a while they couldnt see us properly since it was forest. We then started to run. After we had run for a short distance, we heard them saying catch those girls. We kept running. Whether they came after us not, we didnt know. Hajara: We kept going and our shoes were ripped. We found a house, where a girl could speak Hausa. Her parents gave us a place to sleep. We reached the Chibok area in the morning. A man looking for a relative among the missing girls drove us on motorbike into town. When I saw my elder and younger brothers, I fell to the ground crying. My mother and father were crying and all members of my family cried. Before I reached home it was as if there was a death in the house. Mats were spread. People were consoling my father and mother thinking that I had died. BBC NEWS
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 11:03:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015